Bed time stories, school trips to the library, perusing the Scholastic catalogue or book fair for your next read – luckily, our relationships with the literary world started as young children. And your parents hoped that one day you’d get over the monotonous book reports and develop a true love for reading. After years, you started collecting and stacking books on your nightstand. You’d carry a book in your backpack to read while sipping on coffee at a local coffee shop or even traveled with it by plane, car, train or boat to your summer destination. There is nothing like the escape a book offers as you dive into a few hundred pages of adventure, romance or mystery.

The list of what rests on your book shelf whether it’s a collection of science fiction, horror, fantasy, drama or biographies can go on for days. During the AIGA Toledo Summer Show, designers were asked to dust off their favorite book and give it a good read. Then, create!

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert was a current favorite. Inspired by botany, the subject of the book, I soaked linen paper in tea and applied moss to the paper.

Away with Words is an installment of the annual AIGA Toledo Summer Show and serves as a fundraising event for AIGA Toledo. Funds raised during this event is used to give back to the community through design related programs.